This turn sees the creation of the first Republican Army, el Ejército del Centro (Central Army) with Miaja as the commander and the creation of an Army Corps under the promoted Perea. Miaja will return to Madrid and assume personal command of the force defending the capital. This force has been sent to Sierra de Madrid last turn, but now their orders are to stay in the city.
A supply unit has been received and will march to Guadalajara.

In the east more anarchist militia is available, but the forces are still marching to their destinations. It’s important, if an assault on Zaragoza is to be made, that all forces occupy their positions. Then, we will try to take the capital of Aragón región.

The situation in the South is worsening. More and more units from Africa are crossing the strait of Gibraltar using planes sent by Italy and Germany. These countries ruled by fascists government have sided from the beginning with the rebels. Their troops are of far better quality than ours and when they decide to advance the South may be lost.

In the North, a Nationalist relief force from Galicia has taken Cudillero, and our units flee to Gijón. This will end the siege of Oviedo (costing us 1 NM point), but most troubling, again, is the feeling that we cannot stop their advance with our current forces.

From abroad we gain the possibility of buying some artillery. We select the option of the one which will arrive in Cantabria as we need the unit in Santander and increase artillery in the North. The lack of artillery is another weakness of our forces, who are in a desperate need of rearmament to face the enemy.

No combats this turn but it’s clear that the Republic situation becomes more difficult each turn. Nationalists, joined by their allies, are stronger and most of the regular officials of the army are with them.

Nationalists in the South have commited two powerful forces as a spearhead in the area. In fact one of them has advaced to Malaga and will attack the city for sure. Our forces are far weaker there and although they have been ordered to hold at all costs, the city is seriously threatened.
The other force may point to Jaen and then turn North and begin an advance to Madrid.The enemy has a third force in Sevilla, presumably acting as reserve.

On the Aragon Front, finally, the Durruti Column will arrive at Barbastro and initiate preparations for an eventual attack on Zaragoza. Mera, a Republican general with anarchist connections, has been named as commander of the Ebro Column marching to Calatayud.

In the North, Nationalists have taken Irun on the border with France, thus isolating effectively the Republican zone from outside, but the enemy is not pressing very hard here.

In Teruel, the Valencia Column has arrived at Sarrion, led by Gamir Ulibarri. This Column is built up with two republican militia brigades plus an anarchist battalion from Valencia. This shows perfectly the lack of understanding between the factions inside the Republican Army. Anarchists and the rest of the Republicans don’t follow the same chain of command. So they are very reluctant to obey orders from a non-anarchist commander. The result of all of this is an increased need for command points to effectively lead the Valencia Column.

In the Center, after the fall of Segovia, this sector is more or less quiet. We formed our first army last turn and named Perea as our first Corps commander. There’s a strong enemy force in Ávila, but being Segovia and Ávila mountainous regions both sides seem to merely study each other for the moment.

Finally, in Mallorca the disembarked force will attack Palma. I’m not very optimistic about the outcome. Our troops, not at their maximum cohesion yet, are a mixture of Republican and anarchists units and, like what we have seen in the case of the Valencia Column, they have strong penalties acting together.

Nationalists attack and take Málaga, a hard blow for the Republican cause losing another Andalusian capital, after Sevilla, Cádiz, Córdoba and Granada (where the rebellion succeeded) and Huelva, taken in the first days of war.

In Palma the invasion forces are defeated. This leaves them in a difficult situation, as we don’t have a controlled harbor on the island where we can get supplies, so a presumable idea is to execute an evacuation to Valencia or Barcelona.

This is the situation at the beginning of September with the rebels achieving progress mainly in the South with the contribution of the troops depatched from Africa and airlifted to the Spanish mainland.

In Cartagena, finally, our only regular regiment, now at maximum strength, will be deployed in the Front of Granada, while some militia units will try to take the city, weakly defended at this moment.

But the general situation in the South is still very difficult with powerful enemy forces threatening all the front. Málaga has fallen leaving some of our units still locked behind enemy lines.

A new anarchist battalion is available in Valencia and is ordered to join Valencia Column led by Gamir, who orders his troops to advance towards Teruel. The garrison is inside the city and this could be a good chace to assault this position.

A new able commander, Hernandez Saravia (***), is available in Madrid but he is immediately relocated to Aragon, and is now leading the Durruti Column, eliminating any command penalties. Now an assault on Zaragoza has a very reasonable probability of sucess.
Mera has taken command of the Ebro Column south of Zaragoza, he can improve the performance of anarchist units under his command (offensive, defensive and fire bonus +20%) but he is not an anarchist commander.

In Mallorca our forces try to withdraw from Palma to Manacor and re-embark on the transports.

Unfortunately, a new battle is held in Palma where our fleeing forces are defeated again. This makes things ever harder for our troops in Mallorca.

Our Breguets bombers became obsolete, and this RGD is no longer available, but Soviet Union has offered bombers and I-15 and I-16 fighters as well. All three RGD’s are choosen, and they will allow RGD for aerial war with Soviet planes.

The Non Intervention Pact is signed, but as soon will be proven, Germany and Italy will break the pact and support their Spanish ally.

In Madrid the Giral government falls. Largo Caballero is now Prime Minister with support of the PCE (Communist Party of Spain). PCE is heavily influenced by Stalin’s NKVD.

Good new for the Republicans, our attack in Granada succeds and now the city is ours!

there is no such picture. The air warfare is represented with Regional Decisions. You have a small ammount of them, you can use it over your units as Air Defense, this can prevent for enemy bombardments. And also you can use Air Superiority, this decision can abort enemy Air Defense.Othe Decision is Air Bombardment that can provoque some loss of cohesion in several enemy units but can be aborted by enemy Air Defense. Each type represent one kind of mission and several types of aircrafts. You can also make night attacks in enemy cities (provoque lose of VP to the enemy) and strategic bombardments in enemy cities to make the enemy lose war supplies. There are no Flak Units, and no air combat as in RuS. But this way permit to make some damage in enemy forces to make them lose a battle, just as it happens in history.

but what else could be done under AGE engine? yes, i like WitP style but it is another game, and without AGE engine features.
The RUS air units are in fact ground units, because they represent airfields and services etc... but what i need in the España development were attacks on ground units and strategic bombardment. This system makes this fine.

Granda has finally been taken. This is an outstanding sucess for Republican forces in the South, as the newspaper “La Libertad” (Freedom) explains it:

In spite of the conquest of Granada, the Southern front is still an uneasy situation for Republican forces. Several enemy strong combat groups are located in the area and our agents report Franco, head of the rebellion, is at Cádiz. Under his command rebel forces become even more dangerous.

In Aragon, we have the initiative. Hernández Saravia will lead the attack on Zaragoza with a huge contingent of (mainly) anarchist militia. Our adversaries are better quality troops, but let’s hope the motivation of our men (and their numbers) will be enough to take the Aragonese capital.

Meanwhile, another Aragonese city, Teruel, will be assaulted by the Valencia Column. Only a weak garrison remains in Teruel. The victory will be ours, for sure!

Quiet time in the Center. Enemy forces present in Ávila don’t try to attack Segovia, and our forces in Segovia and Madrid remain on alert. The North is quiet too.

In Mallorca the dramatic situation has become dire. Our forces have been decimated and all signs of cohesion have been vanished. We try to start an evacuation, so, while Republican forces (the red ones) try to withdraw to Manacor, anarchist battalions will try to begin boarding transports.

Unexpectedly, a Nationalist naval force composed of a Cruiser and a Destroyer appeared in the evacuation naval area and attacks our unprotected transports (a heavy mistake not to send naval units to cover the operation, believing no enemy naval units were present in the area). The result is the sinking of one of the transports and the capture of the other.

Good news from the Aragon Front. The assault on Teruel has been succesful. The garrison has been destroyed and the city falls to the Government troops!

In Zaragoza we achieved success too, winning a battle and causing more casualties to the enemy, but they won’t withdraw from the city and the capture of Zaragoza will have to wait.

Leibstandarte wrote:Maybe the weather has prevented you to taking Zaragoza.

how do you make such mistake in Mallorca comrade? now your forces are lost. And you will lose that artillery.

I can consider myself an AGEOD veteran, but it was a foolish move on my side. Maybe Athena is not the smartest girl in town, but she still has capacity for surprise. I underestimate her and the prize was those valuable transports.

I agree with PJJ AGEOD engine is not suited for aerial warfare at this point, so an abstraction of it works fine for me.

“La Libertad” boosts the public opinion of the Republican-controlled areas as another city initially taken by the insurgents in their attempted coup d’etat is now back in loyal hands. Teruel is ours!

An operation to try save our troops in Mallorca has been planned. A couple of transports have unlocked this turn in Barcelona and will set sail for Mallorca. The War Fleer will depart from Cartagena and both units will converge and then try to evacuate as many troops as they can.

In Zaragoza the attack on the city and its defending forces will continue. Republican forces in Bujalaroz and Calatayud are ordered to converge on Zaragoza and support the attack, but the anarchists led by Mera (in Calatayud) will take 8 days to arrive (more than a turn, remember, in España:1936 turn are 7 days long). Should we force march the anarchists? We are near to conquering the vital communications hub which Zaragoza is.

In the South, Málaga has been left with a very weak garrison. It’s a nice chance to recover the city, while consolidating our conquest of Granada, so a battalion in Nerja will advance to Málaga. The enemy is strong and concentrated at some points of Andalucía, but have done a very limited offensive for the moment.

Center and North continue to be the most quiet sectors of all Fronts.

Two options are adopted this turn. The Ministry of War recruits new battalions among the Asturian miners. These troops will help to strenghthen our position in the North, but artillery is still badly needed there, as well as a military leadership for the units.

More artillery is purchased abroad. Unlike the last time when it was bought specifically to be delivered in Santander, this time can be sent anywhere. It’s presumed that the new artillery will appear in a port like Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante or Cartagena, but we’ll have to wait until next turn to know for sure.

Finally the battle for Zaragoza resumes, and this time our victory is even bigger, forcing enemy troops to withdraw. Unfortunately a garrison unit is inside the city as no assault order (red) was given to allow attacks against units inside the structure, only an offensive order (orange) was issued, so next turn the fall of Zaragoza will mark a brilliant end for the month of September.

Let’s talk about the aerial warfare in España:1936 a little bit. The Spanish Air Force of the pre-war time was very obsolete, so when the war begins only a RGD of air bombardment with Breguets XIX is available.
After the initial RGD’s are chosen asking the Soviet Union for SB-2 bombers and I-15 and I-16 fighters much better planes are available. Finally this turn we have available new “air” RGD’s

Polikarpov I-16 fighter, the popular “Mosca” (housefly) among the Republicans and “Rata” (Rat) for the Nationalists.

The first RGD is Air Bombardment. By paying 5,000 pesetas ($5 in game terms) and 2 EP we can reduce the cohesion of up to 5 elements by 20% in the target area.

The Air Defense can cause the enemy to lose one bombardment RGD. The target area must be owned by our side and has a cost of $3 and 1 EP.

Finally, Air Superiority can cause the loss of one Air Defense RGD. Has a cost of $1 and 1 EP and the target area must be one we don’t own.

As you can see, from a totally obsolete air force on both sides, and although a Non Intervention Pact has been signed by European Powers, the air war is becoming more complex with modern aircrafts models. The enemy has requested help from Italy, which could deliver to our opponents planes like the Fiat CR-32 or the SM-81:

But the war goes on. Now we are centered in the last stage of the capture of Zaragoza. Hernandez Saravia’s men will rest this turn as their cohesion is a bit low, while the column arriving from Bujalaroz and composed of 2 brigades of four milita battalions will execute the assault.
Finally, Mera’s troops didn’t manage to arrive at the city, and now it will be for our advantage. Their orders are cancelled, and now they’ll march to Tarazona, taking the railway to Pamplona.
In Teruel, the Valencia Column has split, now a brigade is taking the railway controlled by the enemy north of the city, and allowing thus a rail link between Zaragoza and Teruel controlled by us. The anarchists will occupy Molina de Aragón in the meantime.

Our new Asturian battalions have been received in Gijón:

In the North the Front is still quiet but we will try to do a slight reorganization of the line. Anarchists of San Sebastián will try to retake the Irun area, where the French border is located.
The rest of the force of San Sebastián will march South, approaching Pamplona.
And finally a couple of militia battalions, reinforced with the artillery purchased in Santander, will march South.

In the Center, as the quiet situation remains, the Column in Guadalajara will move North and try to conquer Soria.

In the South, Pozas (***) a mediocre general (2-1-1 ratings) takes command of the forces in Granada, at least in this manner the strongest Republican force in the South Front no longer suffers from command penalties. The now Pozas force is ordered to advance to Alcalá la Real.
In Málaga, the militia battalion is ordered to assault the position (strength 73 against 37 for the defenders).

In the Mediterranean, our transports from Barcelona had suffered a delay and they are still near the city. A turn more must pass before we can proceed to evacuate some of our forces while supply is depleting. Our warships are already in the area for their covering mission.

The assault on Málaga is a total disaster. The enemy garrison was well entrenched and have repelled our assault easily.

Zaragoza is finally taken! The garrison is swept away and now this Objective has fallen to the Republic!

Very bad news again in the South. Finally the rebels have decided to take the offensive and want to re-take Granada. 10,000 men under the able Orgaz, including legionnaire elite units meet Pozas force in Alcalá la Real and inflict a heavy defeat upon us.

Xaloc wrote:Mera has taken command of the Ebro Column south of Zaragoza, he can improve the performance of anarchist units under his command (offensive, defensive and fire bonus +20%) but he is not an anarchist commander.

Xaloc wrote:, the Valencia Column has arrived at Sarrion, led by Gamir Ulibarri. This Column is built up with two republican militia brigades plus an anarchist battalion from Valencia. This shows perfectly the lack of understanding between the factions inside the Republican Army. Anarchists and the rest of the Republicans don’t follow the same chain of command. So they are very reluctant to obey orders from a non-anarchist commander.

Xaloc wrote:Mera, a Republican general with anarchist connections,

Mera was actual anarchist, with some Republican connections. About commandmant he was in the middle of common views here: He saw early that anarchists need a deeper war organisation (what had made Makhno in Ukraine), but he too didn't want that commandmant depend from a governement (which are oligarchy).
He became quickly aware of anarchist strenghts; and of their weakness that usually anarchists didn't want to see, that's why in the end he went to command regular troops.
Mera finally agreed to take a commandmant in Republican army, like Makhno took one in Bolshevik army.
Makhno was then not really a Bolshevik general, nor Mera a true Republican general.

For the game, ok, it is maybe easier to make Mera a Republican, for gameplay and newb understanding. However some explanations should be told in Mera tooltip.

Well, for Republic is more important join north with the Madrid-Barcelona-Valencia axis, Zaragoza is a key point in the begin of the war before nacionales can deploy all their power because later is harder try conect with Pais Vasco-Cantabria-Asturias and if north front falls well, Zaragoza lose a great strategic value, take if doesnt open a conection with other republica forces if north falls... first months you fight to save the north military forces, resources and prestige.

Lose some territory in "Castilla la mancha" is relative bad but if you mantein secure the vital conection between Madrid and Valencia and you can conect with north front... i certain prefer sacrifice the terrain and mantein a line Madrid-Albacete-Almeria and clear north part of the Peninsula... for Republica is a question of clear north fast because all industry is on the north (for example weapon factories, the main shipyards to repair big ships and the Vasque industry) and well, if Republic control the french line is a politic victory.

Practically in South out of the coast cities you dont lose nothing important for a war economy, maybe food... but if you control north you can receive supplies in this secure ports.

ERISS wrote:Mera was actual anarchist, with some Republican connections. About commandmant he was in the middle of common views here: He saw early that anarchists need a deeper war organisation (what had made Makhno in Ukraine), but he too didn't want that commandmant depend from a governement (which are oligarchy).Mera finally agreed to take a commandmant in Republican army, like Makhno took one in Bolshevik army.Makhno was then not really a Bolshevik general, nor Mera a true Republican general.

For the game, ok, it is maybe easier to make Mera a Republican, for gameplay and newb understanding. However some explanations should be told in Mera tooltip.

Yes I knew Mera was anarchist, but as he is represented as Republican for games purposes I had to improvise. I agee with you regarding anarchist commandment.

Zaragoza has been taken and now all the citizens loyal to the Republic are jubilent about the event. Now the doors of Pamplona (and the link with the Northern zone) are open.

October is in its first week, let’s take a look at the general situation of the war. The enemy has a lack of offensive impulse during September in the South, its territorial gains during the last month are minimal. In our side, the conquest of Granada, Teruel and Zaragoza are the main successes.

This turn a really important political option became available: the creation of the Popular Army. Enabling this measure, the Government tries to replace the militia system with a more professional, disciplined army that can face the enemy with more guarantee of success. Obviously the option is chosen at once.

More Asturian battalions can be recruited and these options are chosen also.

Fortunately, at least, our first units of the Mallorca Invasion force can be evacuated with the support of the entire Republican War Fleet, included its flagship the battleship “Jaime I”. The units are a couple of militia battalions and the vital artillery unit. The shortage of artillery of the Republican forces makes every unit of this type precious.

In the Front of Aragón, once Zaragoza is conquered, Hernández Saravia marches toward the last of the Aragonese capitals in rebel’s hands:Huesca. His troops have rested a little bit and now refreshed will remove this flank before initiating the march on Pamplona, capital of Navarra.

In the Center sector, the force under Jurado will assault Soria, protected by a cavalry battalion only. His force is a full militia brigade with four battalions, let’s hope he will be able to take the city…

While in the Northern the front is quiet one turn more, in the South the situation is serious. Poza’s troops couldn’t withdraw from Alcalá la Real and now after their defeat will have to face the enemy there again, which can be potentially disastrous. Their cohesion is below 10 and thus movement is severly penalized (and Pozas, moreover, is unactivated).
Some milita around Málaga, on the other hand, became unlocked and will renew the assault on the city.

The attack on Soria is another failure for our militia. Our force was superior to the enemy by a 5:1 ratio, but all we get is a stalemate and without taking the city.

But a second battle for Soria takes place with the result of the death of our brigade’s commander, Jurado. The city remains under enemy’s hands.

In Alcalá la Real, in the Southern Front, a new disaster occurs when Poza’s routed troops are attacked again by Orgaz’s forces. We lose near 2,000 men.

But there is good news at least! Our second attack on Málaga is successful and the city is recovered for the Republic!

As the Republic, I suppose it would be wise to make as many gains as possible before the Nationalists start receiving strong support from Italy and Germany.

How are the internal problems within the Republic modelled? Can we expect to see some infighting and problems of co-operation between various political groups that have a negative impact on the military operations?

Well this will be the last update of this introductory AAR. With the game released the objective of the AAR is fulfilled, introducing the game to all of you interested on it. I hope you enyojed it and will enjoy the game, too.

Once again thanks to Leibstandarte for all the dedication to create España:1936 and to my fellow beta and opponent Durk for his kind text corrections.

To give a worthy end to the AAR, I’ll do a review of the fronts, hoping to find some AAR of your own soon!

The expedition to Mallorca was finally able to re-embark some of the troops. A couple of milita battalions and, the more important, the artillery unit are now safe on board the transport ships protected by the whole Republican War Fleet.
The other units will have to wait until the transports unload and come back to the Mallorca area, if they are not attacked and overwhelmed by the enemy before.

In the Center, the first Mixed Brigades become available and are being formed while some of the former militia battalions are being upgraded to ’36 Regular infantry. They will be better equipped and disciplined and with more chances to face the rebels successfully. A small enemy force has reached the outskirts of Madrid but Miaja will move there and attack.

The most favorable front for the Republic is in Aragón where the forces led by Hernández Saravia, Durruti and Mera have routed the enemy conquering almost all of Aragón. Now they can head for other cities like Soria and above all Pamplona, a key city for linking the Republican forces in the main Republican territories with the North.

The North has been a really quiet sector. Very few actions, but the enemy managed to relieve the siege of Oviedo and cut the French border in Irún, too. But San Sebastián, especially, and the rest of Republican-held northern cities are safe for the moment.

And the Southern Front where the situation has been the most difficult. The enemy has been passive, but here they have really strong forces, and from here the main offensive effort will come to take Andalucia or to take Badajoz, linking both rebel regions and then making the drive on Madrid. Here we lost Málaga, but managed to recover it again and conquered Granada, unfortunately too late to save Federico García Lorca’s life (he was executed on August, 19, 1936).

An event that occured this turn. Soviet armor arrived at the port of Cartagena. T-26 Soviet tanks arrives with the ship “Konsomol” and will be the first armored forces of the Republic, except for the light armored cars we had at the beginning.

And finally a picture of the military control map, where all controlled areas by both sides can be seen. Nationalists did achieve some progress mainly in the South while Republicans pressure grew mainly in Aragón.

A pleasure making my little contribution to the game and maybe will encounter some of you on the battlefield sharing an experience with the Spanish Civil War.